Gerry: Steelers have nobody to blame but themselves for Rainey, Ta'amu

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Gerry: Steelers have nobody to blame but themselves for Rainey, Ta'amu

Gerry: Steelers have nobody to blame but themselves for Rainey, Ta'amu

THURSDAY, 10 JANUARY 2013 WRITTEN BY GERRY DULAC

Here’s a simple solution for the Steelers and other NFL teams to avoid problems with players who embarrass the franchise with off-the-field incidents that ultimately result in their dismissal.

Don’t draft them, especially when you know they have a proven track record of misdeeds or offenses.

And the Steelers are as guilty as any other team of ignoring their history.

Three of the rookies they drafted this year – Rainey, tackle Mike Adams and nose tackle Alameda Ta’amu -- had legal problems of varying degree in college.

Rainey had a felony stalking charge against him in 2010 when he sent a threatening text to a woman, telling her, “Time to die.” His arrest this morning in Florida on charges of simple battery for slapping his girlfriend should not come as a shock.

Ta’amu was charged with driving under the influence in October 2011 for an incident that occurred in December, 2009, when Ta'amu was playing for the University of Washington. Perhaps it should not have been a surprise, then, when Ta’amu was charged with multiple felony and misdemeanor offenses in October stemming from a police chase while he was driving drunk through the South Side. That forced the Steelers to suspend him for two weeks without pay.

And Adams, their No. 2 choice, tested positive for marijuana at the NFL scouting combine in February, then lied about it to various NFL teams and scouts.

The Steelers knew about all three past offenses when they drafted the players.

That means they knowingly built one-third of their 2012 draft class with players who had previous legal problems before they became Steelers. Now, I don’t have to be on the dean’s list at Carnegie Mellon to know that greatly increases the odds of having an embarrassing episode with a player. And the Steelers have already had two of them in four months.

The Steelers have nobody but themselves to blame for drafting a player with less an impeccable character and having that player become another black eye for the franchise.

To their credit, they quickly released Rainey, their kick returner and specialty running back.

Gerry: Steelers have nobody to blame but themselves for Rainey, Ta'amu

THURSDAY, 10 JANUARY 2013 WRITTEN BY GERRY DULAC

Here’s a simple solution for the Steelers and other NFL teams to avoid problems with players who embarrass the franchise with off-the-field incidents that ultimately result in their dismissal.

Don’t draft them, especially when you know they have a proven track record of misdeeds or offenses.

And the Steelers are as guilty as any other team of ignoring their history.

Three of the rookies they drafted this year – Rainey, tackle Mike Adams and nose tackle Alameda Ta’amu -- had legal problems of varying degree in college.

Rainey had a felony stalking charge against him in 2010 when he sent a threatening text to a woman, telling her, “Time to die.” His arrest this morning in Florida on charges of simple battery for slapping his girlfriend should not come as a shock.

Ta’amu was charged with driving under the influence in October 2011 for an incident that occurred in December, 2009, when Ta'amu was playing for the University of Washington. Perhaps it should not have been a surprise, then, when Ta’amu was charged with multiple felony and misdemeanor offenses in October stemming from a police chase while he was driving drunk through the South Side. That forced the Steelers to suspend him for two weeks without pay.

And Adams, their No. 2 choice, tested positive for marijuana at the NFL scouting combine in February, then lied about it to various NFL teams and scouts.

The Steelers knew about all three past offenses when they drafted the players.

That means they knowingly built one-third of their 2012 draft class with players who had previous legal problems before they became Steelers. Now, I don’t have to be on the dean’s list at Carnegie Mellon to know that greatly increases the odds of having an embarrassing episode with a player. And the Steelers have already had two of them in four months.

The Steelers have nobody but themselves to blame for drafting a player with less an impeccable character and having that player become another black eye for the franchise.

To their credit, they quickly released Rainey, their kick returner and specialty running back.

As far as I know, all Adams did was get jiggy with hippie lettuce. Are we really suppose to knock out all prospects to who have ever hit the lettuce as college kids? How many of you fit that description? Get real. Not that they were model players as far as character goes, but how many teams lament passing on Warren Sapp and Randy Moss who's transgressions were mostly hitting the lettuce?

As far as I know, all Adams did was get jiggy with hippie lettuce. Are we really suppose to knock out all prospects to who have ever hit the lettuce as college kids? How many of you fit that description? Get real. Not that they were model players as far as character goes, but how many teams lament passing on Warren Sapp and Randy Moss who's transgressions were mostly hitting the lettuce?

Rainey's and Ta'amu's transgressions had nothing to do with smoking weed. in fact, maybe Adams should share some of his with them in order to mellow them out a bit.

As far as I know, all Adams did was get jiggy with hippie lettuce. Are we really suppose to knock out all prospects to who have ever hit the lettuce as college kids? How many of you fit that description? Get real. Not that they were model players as far as character goes, but how many teams lament passing on Warren Sapp and Randy Moss who's transgressions were mostly hitting the lettuce?

I've been asked on Twitter what the difference is between what happened with rookie running back Chris Rainey and rookie nose tackle Alameda Ta'amu.

There are differences.

Rainey had been charged in 2011 with sending a threatening text to a girlfriend. But after speaking with Maurkice Pouncey, the Steelers felt he was worth taking a chance on.

He then had two minor incidents during the season before being charged with striking a woman in Florida this week. Obviously, Rainey hadn't gotten the message in regard to walking the straight and narrow.

While Ta'amu's drunk driving incident on the South Side was deplorable, it was his lone misstep while with the team. He's had no other issues since joining the Steelers. If he had, he would have been gone.

As it was, Ta'amu was suspended for two games and subsequently released and placed on the practice squad.

That alone cost him between $200,000 to $300,000 in salary this season.

Ta'amu is still on notice. If he makes another mistake or has another run-in with the law, he'll be released as well.

@ Former Steelers Jerome Bettis and Kevin Greene made the cut to be among the finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year.

The guess here is that Bettis gets in and Greene does not.

When Bettis became eligible for the Hall of Fame, he did so in the same year as Marshall Faulk and Curtis Martin.

At that time, the pecking order among those backs ranked them Faulk, Martin, Bettis.